Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

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These classic and amazing muffins are the perfect start to your busy day or a great protein-packed snack for the middle of the day!

pb and jelly muffins

Before we get to the weight loss talk, I wanted to briefly chat about these amazing peanut butter and jelly muffins! If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, this recipe might look rather familiar. I made them way back in March of 2011 and the photos are pretty awful. I actually used an iPhone 3s to take these. Isn’t that horrible? And these muffins deserve more, they deserve a sexy photo-shoot that makes them look as delicious as they are.

peanut butter jelly muffins

Now the weight talk. Weight loss – 2 trillion points. Me – Negative 60 trillion points. I know losing weight isn’t easy and is supposed to be trying, but ugh, why does it have to be THIS trying and difficult? Losing weight is hard for anyone, but it’s especially hard for me. No, I don’t have a disorder or a condition, but I am a full-time food writer, and not just for this blog. My full-time gig requires me to make foods that aren’t healthy, low-fat or skinny, like four-cheese pull apart bread, velveeta cheeseburger dip and extra gooey cinnamon rolls. Despite cutting the recipes in fourths, there’s still food here and not eating it is the hardest thing in the world, let me tell you.

Healthy peanut butter muffins

But, surprisingly, we’re not here to talk about the physical difficulties when it comes to dieting, we’re here to talk about the mental ones. ALL THE FEELS!

When you decide to make a big change in yourself, like weight loss, you put all of your focus on the parts about you that you hate, the parts you desperately want to change, like your “thunder” thighs, muffin top or jiggly arms. And because you want to change these parts so desperately, that is all you focus on. All you can see when you look in the mirror are those thunder thighs or jiggly arms. All you can think of when you’re eating is how much you hate your stomach. This makes sense, if you hate something enough you’re motivated to change it. But in those cases that you fail and gain weight, these words of hate can make you feel so pathetically small.

Healthy muffins with jam

I’ve failed with weight loss more times than I care to admit,and the worst part isn’t the fact that I haven’t lost any weight, it’s the way I see myself the moment after I weigh in. All I can focus on is how disgusting my body is, and how much of a failure I am that I can’t fix the only things I can control. The words that once incited positive change when I stared at my naked body quickly turned from motivational to self-destructive. And there’s no worse feeling than a destructive one. That’s why I’m doing something a little different this time around and it has absolutely nothing to do with eating right or exercising.

soft pb muffins

Instead of focusing on the things I hate about myself every morning, I’m repeating 10 things I love about my body instead. I may hate my stomach, but I love my eyes. My thighs are larger than I’d care for them to be, but they’re also pretty damn powerful. I hate my cellulite but I love my ass. My arms are a bit jiggly, but I do love my boobs. I love my height and have fun hair. Putting all of my focus into the parts about me that I do love is 15,000 times more motivating than focusing on all the things I hate. When I go to the gym, I’m not pushing myself to lose these thunder thighs or sculpt my muffin top, instead I’m pushing myself to strengthen my legs and core.

Easy fluffy muffins

And when I do slip up and gain instead of lose or stay stagnant with my losses, these positive thoughts will make it so much easier to get back on the wagon than those negative ones did. And it sure feels a helluva lot better to look in the mirror and smile than cry, don’t you think?

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

PBJELLY muffins

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!

Serves about 12.
Prep time: About 10 minutes
Cook time: About 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cups whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1/4 cup light cream
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 cup low-sugar blueberry jelly

Directions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Make a well into the center of the flour mixture and stir in the peanut butter, egg, butter, vanilla, milk and light cream. Stir to combine.
  3. Fill each muffin liner 1/2 the way with batter and top with 1 1/2 teaspoons of strawberry jelly. Add a tablespoon of batter to cover the jelly.
  4. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown.

Nutritional information per muffin:

Calories: 189.5
Fat: 7 grams
Carbohydrates: 22 grams
Fiber: 1.5 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 5

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Comments

  1. Wednesday, January 15th, 2014
    So neat to see how your photography has improved over time! These muffins sound so good, wish I had some for breakfast. Peanut butter and jelly are a match made in muffin heaven. And sending positive vibes your way with your weight loss : )
  2. Wednesday, January 15th, 2014
    I totally understand your weight loss woes. I'm also a full time food blogger / recipe developer / food photographer, and there is ALWAYS food around. Right now, my fridge is PACKED with leftover food, way more than is needed for just my husband and I. Oh well.

    Great muffin recipe. Loving it.
  3. Posted by Julia on
    Thursday, January 16th, 2014
    I love the idea of repeating positive things about yourself. Everyone should do this every day - it would make like much more relaxing and enjoyable. We spend so much time and effort pressuring ourselves to be perfect that we forget about the things that make us unique. I LOVE your pb&j muffins! I could eat pb in any form whatsoever, so I'm going deep with this recipe!
  4. Posted by Danni on
    Thursday, January 16th, 2014
    This book has changed my life...
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    -Danni
  5. Sunday, January 19th, 2014
    Lol. That post from 2011 is AWESOME! I especially love the shot of the batter in the bowl. And I'm still curious what happened to Lindsey of Gingerbread Bagels.

    Anyway, these look perfect! :D Sliiightly better pictures (kidding, kidding!)
  6. Posted by Samantha on
    Saturday, January 25th, 2014
    what would you recommend as a substitute for the light cream, More milk?